The Penobscot Valley Conference Class B baseball ranks have been a benefactor of their own balance.

A look at the updated Heal point ratings released Tuesday reveals that six of the top seven teams in Eastern B are from the PVC, compared to just one team – No. 4 Gardiner – from the other league that competes in the division, the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference.

And if postseason play was determined based on the current rankings, 10 PVC teams would make the 14-school Eastern B field.

The reasons for this trend are several, one being the fact that the teams at the top are all well-rounded – John Bapst of Bangor, Mattanawcook Academy of Lincoln and Old Town are the top three clubs, with 10-2 Ellsworth ranked fifth after a split with No. 7 Caribou on Monday.

In addition, of 11 Class B teams in the PVC, 10 have at least five victories, meaning that a win over any of those teams is worth a decent helping of Heal points, compared to wins against the lower-tier teams from the KVAC, which boasts six of the bottom seven teams in the latest Eastern B rankings.

“You’re still getting close games with the teams at the bottom of our league,” said Old Town coach David Utterback. “You look at the box scores of all the teams in this league and there aren’t all that many blowout games.”

Aiding in that balance among the PVC schools is that there are a number of doubleheaders scheduled involving northernmost entries Caribou and Presque Isle for travel reasons, and history has shown that at the high school level it’s tough to sweep a twinbill.

A good example of that came over Memorial Day weekend. Three PVC B doubleheaders were played, with Mattanawcook splitting with Caribou on Saturday, Ellsworth splitting with Caribou on Monday and Mount Desert Island splitting with Presque Isle on Monday.

And those results just serve to make the standings even tighter, with the top teams scrambling for the two first-round byes in Eastern B, the next tier vying for home-field advantage in the preliminary round and a third group aspiring to qualify for postseason play.

“There are some teams that are trying to separate themselves from the pack,” said Utterback, “and there’s a bunch of teams caught in the middle.

“Whichever teams put together the best winning streaks at the end are going to draw the byes.”

Eagles poised for playoffs

They won’t finish the regular season undefeated, but the George Stevens Academy boys and girls tennis teams still will be significant players in the battle for Eastern Maine Class C championships.

Both teams were 10-0 before falling to Class B Mount Desert Island of Bar Harbor, and they faced another formidable test Tuesday in their regular season finales at Orono.

But talent, experience and pedigree suggest the Blue Hill-based Eagles will still be the teams to beat once postseason play begins next week.

As for pedigree, both GSA teams are reigning regional champions, and the boys squad has won five of the last six Eastern C crowns.

As for talent and experience, the GSA boys squad is led by three seniors in its singles slots. That trio features Cooper Mor, who reached the state singles Round of 16 last spring and has qualified for the Round of 40 again this year.

Giammarco Manzoni, an exchange student from Italy, has stepped into the second singles slot, while Henry Owen has moved up to third singles after playing doubles a year ago.

Elias Springer and Dillon Morris play first doubles tandem while Dylan Stewart and Michael Senter-Zapata play second doubles.

The GSA girls squad is similarly experienced, led by top singles players Brittany Olivari and Annika Treyball. Hillary Lawsing, Katie Herklotz, Grace Jackson, Rebecca Traub and Vesta Davis have been among other key contributors for the Eagles.

“We’re always concentrating on our doubles players, but this is really the first year since Misha Mytar graduated [in 1998] that we’ve had three really strong singles players,” said GSA girls tennis coach Tim Farrar.

All-star games slated

Times and sites have been firmed up for this year’s postseason high school baseball all-star games.

The third annual Maine-New Hampshire Senior All-Star Game and Maine Underclass All-Star Game will be held Monday, June 23, at Mahaney Diamond on the campus of Saint Joseph’s College in Standish. The underclass game is scheduled to begin at noon, followed at 4 p.m. by the senior all-star game.

The 16th annual Maine High School Senior All-Star Baseball Classic follows on Friday, June 27, in a 6 p.m. start from the Winkin Baseball Complex on the campus of Husson College in Bangor.

That game, which features teams of East and West senior all-stars from throughout the state, will be preceded by the presentation of the 17th annual Dr. John Winkin Award, symbolic of the state’s Mr. Baseball.

Knight earns Reebok camp invite

Thomas Knight, a 6-foot-8-inch junior center from Dirigo of Dixfield who earned Bangor Daily News All-Maine second team recognition last winter, has earned an invitation to attend the Reebok All-American Camp, one of the most prestigious summer camps of its kind in the nation.

Knight earned that invitation through his play last weekend at the New England Headliner Camp held at Mansfield, Mass.

Knight was one of six players from that camp – and the lone player from Maine – who earned a spot at the Reebok All-American Camp, which will be held July 6-10 in Philadelphia. He will be one of just 120 players nationwide invited to participate through their performances at 12 Headliner camps held around the country.

Knight averaged 16.8 points and 8.6 rebounds per game last winter in leading Dirigo to a berth in the Western Maine Class C championship game.

eclark@bangordailynews.net

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